Conservative

Jackson: Paul’s Ferguson statement stands out

On Aug. 9, a black teenager named Mike Brown was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Many Republican presidential hopefuls have offered their ideas and support. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said in a statement, “Together, we should all mourn the loss of life in Ferguson, Missouri, and work to keep our communities safe and free. Police officers risk their lives every day to keep us safe, and any time a young man loses his life in a confrontation with law enforcement, it is tragic.”

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) said, “I think it would be disrespectful to this tragedy and the community and to the family so I think that as a public and as leaders, letís let law enforcement do its job.”

Paul Ryan’s statement showed a complete lack of understanding of what is going on in Ferguson, ignoring how the police are the problem, whereas Senator Cruz’s statement was very safe and didnít cross any ideological boundaries. However, there was one conservative candidate whose statement came close enough to acknowledging the real problem in Ferguson. That candidate was junior Senator of Kentucky, Rand Paul. 

In an unpopular statement with conservatives, Rand Paul said, “Given the racial disparities in our criminal justice system, it is impossible for African-Americans not to feel like their government is particularly targeting them.” This is a radical change from the man who just last year, admitted he wouldn’t have signed the Civil Rights Act if he were President because it infringed on the rights of businesses. 



In an Aug. 14 Time Magazine opinion column, Rand stated “Washington has incentivized the militarization of local police precincts by using federal dollars to help municipal governments build what are essentially small armies  —where police departments compete to acquire military gear that goes far beyond what most of Americans think of as law enforcement.”

Completely true, this topic has been covered numerous times in books, such as “The New Jim Crow,” where the war on poor people and minorities and the war on drugs was the catalyst for the massive prison boom in our nation and the massive arms boom for our police departments. 

In a time where the GOP is seen as anti-women, anti-gay, anti-poor people and anti-people of color, it is great to finally see someone from the Republican party giving attention to this issue. 

Rand Paul’s words in support of the black community fall well in line with his current goal of trying to court a demographic of very safe votes for the democrats. He’s the first Republican to see race for what it is in this situation and how it relates to everything. It is great to see a Republican take a step into a field dominated by Democrats by offering intelligent and controversial commentary, a step that could set him apart in the upcoming election.

Rami Jackson is a junior entrepreneurship and policy studies major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at rdjackso@syr.edu and followed on Twitter  @IsRamicJ.





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